The Other Side
by Rootbeerpants
Summary: Vale is a kingdom split in two. At the heart of Vale is Kireina Machi the greatest city in the world and around that is the slums a place of crime and near anarchy. Everyone wants to be in Kireina Machi or at least that's what Ruby and Yang thought but maybe the city isn't quite what it seems. Cyperpunk-ish AU. Rated M for adult themes and language.
1. Truth

**Hello everyone. Thanks for checking out the first chapter of my new story. I'm pretty excited to actually write this as Ive had the idea for a while. Be sure to let me know what you think after reading the chapter by reviewing it. With that said here is chapter one.**

"Hey Rubes. Finally snapped huh?" Yang casually asked her sister, who was pointing her old sniper rifle out the window. "Not today Yang. Just people watching" Ruby replied in her normal bubbly tone. How she can keep that tone while cramped up in this place is anyone's guess. She lived in a grimy apartment above a pub in the slums district, barely able to even eat everyday with no friends besides her sister and Jaune yet still she kept up her child like attitude. Sometimes Yang worried that something was wrong with her, like she hadn't raised her right and now Ruby was doomed to live life permanently with the mind of a child. Her fears never lasted long however as Ruby was pretty darn smart if she could say so herself. Ruby had a knack for mechanics and was the one who kept everything running in the apartment. The sniper itself was a testament to that as Ruby had kept it in good shape for near ten years now. For a 15 year old that was pretty impressive she felt. She wasn't half a bad shot with the thing either.

"Uh Yang? You ok?" Ruby was looking up at Yang quizzically. Looks like she spent far too long on that train of thought, again. "Oh I was just thinking" Yang sat down on the bed next to Ruby "So see anyone interesting" Ruby put her hand to her chin "Hm. Well I saw Jaune carrying some bags around with Pyrrha. Probably shopping bags but I couldn't tell from here" Yangs smile faded a bit. Jaune brought back some bad memories for her. Two years of her life spent of him just for it all to come crumbling down. If he wasn't Rubys friend she would probably do her best to keep him out of her life. "-He seemed a bit drunk but the hat was cool. Um...Oh! I saw a girl with white hair and this really clean white dress and coat on. She stood out a lot compared to the others. Looked like she was carrying a really big bag too" Clean clothes? Now that was new. No one in the slums really kept their clothes clean. No real point when everything else was dirty anyway. Even Yang and Ruby didn't bother much with yangs once bright yellow tank top now a much darker shade and her black sweatpants having quite a few marks and stains on them from throughout the years while Rubys black dress and read cloak had quite a few dirt marks on them, the end of the cloak especially being a dark shade of brown at this point. "Hm. Maybe shes new here?" Yang question. Ruby looked over to her with a confused look on her face. "The refugee boats arent due for another 3 months and she wouldn't have clean clothes if she came from there" "Could be from Kireina Machi" Ruby laughed "Don't be stupid. No way anyone would leave Kireina Machi to come here. You don't spend a million credits to enter the greatest city in the world then get bored and leave" Yang let loose a laugh of her own "I know but where else could she have come from? Maybe she just missed the dirt and drugs" They both laughed for a while. The thought that anyone would leave a place like Kireina Machi was ludicrous. What reason would someone have to do something as stupid as that?

Truth. The word ran through Weisses mind as she walked through the dark streets of the slums her bag feeling much heavier than it did when she started this trip. She was really hoping she did the right thing. Its a big risk leaving her home and family but after they took her mother away Weiss could already see where all this was going to go. Her father had barely reacted at all when she was taken. He just sat there by the fire while she screamed that she wasn't crazy. Begged for them to let her go. She can remember it so clearly even after three years. Winter had tried to comfort Weiss as best she could but it didn't stop Weiss from wondering why they took her? Mother had never shown any signs of being crazy in the house. She had always been nice to her and Winter, always giving them the attention and support they needed even after Whitley was born yet the police came and took her away to Osorubeki Metal Asylum. She found out the truth two weeks ago, when Winter told Weiss that father had reported to the police that mother was showing signs of the G virus, a virus that came from the neural implants they all had. The government were so scared of an outbreak that they just took her without any further questions. Winter didn't know why father had done this. Weiss needed to know and she knew who would know. She was going to break her mother out of Osorubeki and finally get the truth. She packed everything she needed into her bag and bribed one of the charity food trucks to give her a lift into the slums.

Now she was looking for any where she could sleep. Use as a makeshift base to devise a plan. Anywhere that didn't look so shady. Her luck was not kicking in unfortunately. There was a pub a few blocks back called "The Ridge" that looked to have an upstairs area she could pay her way into. It was a ways back though and the streets behind her where much darker now. As where the streets in front of her actually. In fact it now dawned on her she had been walking for quite a while without thinking about how dark it was getting. Weiss looked all around her, trying to find anywhere were there was light but to no avail. Footsteps began echoing down the streets and Weiss could make out the figure of a rather large looking man wearing a beat up silver hoodie and jeans. "um excuse me? Do you happen to know anywhere I can go that offers rooms?2 She called out to the figure who had now walked much closer to her. He seemed to have some kind of bird symbol on his hoodie and the hood covered his eyes from view. A small smirk had found its way onto his lips at her words. "You look pretty clean, you from the big city?" he asked as he walked up uncomfortably close to her "I don't see how that's relevant" Weiss replied taking a few steps back. This may have been a mistake. "I just wanted an idea of how much money I could get off ya" The man pulled out a handgun as he spoke and pointed at Weiss. "I want you to transfer every single credit you have to me right now or else ill take them off your corpse" Weiss looked at the gun now pointed at her.

Yep this was definitely a mistake.


	2. Shelter

**Hello again everyone. Going forward I'm hoping to get an update to this story out every friday if I can. If for any reason I cant update it on time I will be sure to let you know why. Anyways be sure to leave a review telling me what you think and without further ado here's chapter two.**

Life on the streets wasn't that bad if Ren was being honest. Sure finding food was hard and winter could be a bitch but you also get the chance to meet all sorts of interesting people and there's a certain freedom that came from it. Plus he got to hang out with Nora which was always a positive, even if she was more energetic than she had any right to be. Even at midnight her energy was far greater than Rens was as evidenced by the fact that she was skipping in front of him down the street while he walked slowly behind her.

When Nora had first pitched the idea of going on walks at night to help Ren calm down he had expected them to walk side by side slowly down the streets, taking in the still night air and the silence that came with it. Instead Nora had spent most of the walks running around or skipping past Ren down the street. He had thought about asking Nora to wait up for him but he knew that would be a fruitless endeavor. At this point he was pretty sure no force on earth could slow her down.

"Hey Ren! I think I see some people up ahead" Ren snapped out of his thoughts when Nora spoke. Look out in front of him he could make out two figures in the distance. After walking about closer he could recognize one of them as Cardin but the girl he was talking to was a complete mystery to him. She certainly didn't look like anyone who lived in the slums though.

It was only when they walked a bit closer that Ren noticed the gun. Of course Cardin was mugging someone. Honestly whats the point in trying to help him if hes gonna go straight back to a life of crime the minuet Ren lets him go. He sighed "Cardin what are you doing?" Cardin spun around in surprise "Ren! I was uh...just chatting with my new friend here!" Rens face clearly showed how little he was willing to put up with Cardin's bullshit tonight "Cardin please. I can see the handgun in your hand. Stop trying to lie to me" Cardin opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything Weiss kicked him in the nuts from behind, causing him to crumble on the floor

Ren tried to suppress a laugh while Nora made no such attempt "I like you new girl. Whats your name?" Nora asked, extending her hand to Weiss. Weiss stared uncertainly at the hand before shaking it "Weiss. Weiss Schnee. Its a pleasure to meet you" Nora raised her eye at the stiff formal greeting "Yep. You're definitely from Kireina Machi" Weiss sighed "Is it really that obvious?" Ren injected himself into the conversation, walking up beside Nora "No one in the slums greets other people like that nor do they keep up the appearance you do. You stick out like a sore thumb around here Im afraid. My names Lie Ren by the way but you can call me Ren"

Weiss nodded then looked back down the streets where she came from. Still pitch black. She sighed and turned back to the pair "I don't suppose either of you know know where I could find a place to stay. For tonight at least" Ren and Nora both looked at each other before nodding "You can stay with us at Razors Edge if you'd like" Ren answered "Its just a few blocks down from here and there's plenty of spare rooms" Weiss looked at them quizzically "Is it some kind of hotel/ Why would a hotel be called Razors Edge? And how do you both look like that when you own a hotel?" They both pretended to not be offended by that last remark "We don't own it. It used to be a hotel before the hunters attacked the place under suspicion the owners where hiding fanus from them. The owners where both killed and no one really wanted it after that so we moved in with a bunch of other homeless people" Nora said "Razors Edge was what Adam named it. He said the Goldshire hotel wasn't fitting anymore" Ren added, a somber look taking residence on his face. Nora placed a hand on his shoulder "The rooms are open for anyone who can get a recommendation from a current resident which we will be more than happy to do for you right Ren?" Ren simply nodded clearly thinking about something else.

Weiss took one last look down the street before nodding "Ok that sounds wonderful. Lead the way" Nora and Ren walked back down the street they came from, side by side this time with Weiss close behind them. Nora looked over to Ren as they walked. "Its not your fault you know? Nobody could have saved him" Ren sighed "I know I just...I wish I could have done more. He was our friend and we just..." Ren stopped himself. He didn't want to rant about this now. Not with the new girl behind him. They spent the rest of the walk in silence.

* * *

When they finally arrived at the hotel, Weiss was shocked to see that it didn't look as bad as she thought it would. Sure the sign on the front had fallen off and there was dirt and mold all along the walls of the building but it had intact windows, the main doors where surprisingly undamaged and it didn't give off the same vibe of danger that all the other buildings had. The inside was what really surprised her though. Mostly clean red carpet adorned the floors, the dark wooden walls had very few scratches and other signs of wear and tear and the chandelier lighting the lobby was actually quite beautiful. If she hadn't been told this wasn't a hotel before entering she would have sword the place was still in business. "Impressed?2 Said Nora, pulling Weiss from her thoughts "We put a lot of work into this place" "It shows" Weiss replied, putting a big smile on Nora's face "Ah its so great to have a new person here! I can already tell you're gonna fit in here great! Ren's just getting you a room now" Nora squealed her energy still at its peek.

After trying to talk to Nora who was firing off questions at Weiss a mile a minuet, Ren came walking over to them, Cardin walking next to him. Looks like he was still walking kinda funny too. "Cardin what do you have to say to Weiss?" Cardin grumbled a bit and looked towards the floor "Im sorry" "Come on Cardin better than that" "I'm sorry OK! I just got carried away is all" Cardin shuffled his feet awkwardly, now looking a far cry from the intimidating man that had tried to steal Weisses money "Hm. That will do for now but I expect you to be good from now on OK Cardin? You wont make any progress if you fall back into old habits the second you exit this building" Ren said sounding like a teacher scolding a student "Yes sir. Can I go now? I'm really tired" Cardin said eyes still locked onto the floor. "You may go Cardin be remember you have another lesson tomorrow at 12 o' clock and I expect you to be on time to this one" Ren replied. Cardin gave a small nod them walked off to his room.

"Sorry about that Weiss. Ive been trying to teach Cardin to be a better person but hes spent a long time as a criminal. Some old habits die hard" A look of annoyance found its way onto Weisses face "Old habits? He pointed a gun at me!" Nora giggled at Weisses outburst "Oh come on Weiss don't be so mad! In the slums this kinda stuff happens all the time. You just have to get used to it" Get used to it? What kind of mad people had she just gotten herself involved with? Maybe its not too late to run back to Kireina Machi

After that interesting exchange Ren lead Weiss to the room she would be staying in. It was a small, basic room with just a set of drawers next to a small bed tucked into the corner. There was also a window that had a stunning few of a brick wall. 2I know its probably not much compared to Kireina Machi but it should be good to sleep in" Ren said, flicking on the light as they entreated the room "Than you Ren. I was worried I wouldn't meet anyone nice around here. Everywhere I saw outside gave off this great vibe of danger" Weiss said as she sat down on the bed. "Well the slums isn't the nicest place but there are quite a few of us who try to be as good as we can" Ren went to leave but stopped as he was closing the door "Weiss if you don't mind me asking why did you leave Kireina Machi?" Weiss looked at Ren, a cold look on her face "Lets just say Ive got family problems and leave it at that" Ren nodded before closing the door, leaving Weiss alone

Closing her eyes, Weiss let out a deep sigh. Today had been a whirlwind for her and she would like nothing more than to just sleep. But before she could do that, she had one more thing to check. Tapping her temple with her index finger, a blue strip of light appeared on the side of her head. Her vision was taken over by a web search page. "Search for Schnee family news please" The web page disappeared and was replaced by a list of news articles about the Schnee family. "Schnee Weapons stock increase, exclusive interview new general Winter Schnee...looks like they haven't filed the police report yet" Weiss tapped her temple again, the blue light disappearing along with the screen. This was good news for Weiss as she knew once the police report got filed, it wouldn't be long before they started searching the slums for her and she knew they would find her quickly once that happened. Content with this information Weiss dressed herself into her nightgown and went to sleep, making am mental note ask Ren and Nora more questions tomorrow.

Hopefully they would be able to help her find her mother.


End file.
